The invention relates to small, portable transmitters used for dog training by transmitting stimulation control signals to collar-mounted receivers on one or more dogs being trained, and more particularly to a system that (1) provides remote control of the amplitude of stimulus pulses applied to electrodes which are maintained in contact with the skin of the dog (s), and (2) also provides remote control of the amplitude of open circuit output voltages applied between stimulus electrodes (i.e., when the electrodes are not in electrical contact with the skin of the dog (s)).
A basic requirement of a remote training device of the general type including stimulus intensity that is controllable by a remote transmitter is that each remotely selected intensity level must reliably and consistently apply the same electrical stimulus level to the animal being trained. If this requirement is not met, inconsistent stimulus levels received by the animal often causes confusion to the animal, which interferes with the training process.
A shortcoming of some prior remote training systems having remotely selectable control of the amplitude of the stimulus signal between the skin-contacting electrodes is that for the lower values of the intensity settings, neither the open circuit nor the xe2x80x9cloadedxe2x80x9d electrode voltages applied between the contacting electrodes are high enough to cause effective electrical contact of the electrodes with the animals"" skin. The animal does not feel and therefore does not respond to the intended stimulus for lower selected intensity control settings. (A trainer observing the lack of response then is likely to increase the selected stimulus level on the remote transmitter until the animal responds. At that point, the stimulus level actually felt by the animal may suddenly be much higher than is justified by its behavior and may be far too great, causing confusion or fright of the animal which, of course, is counterproductive.) The foregoing problems may be caused by a combination of the dryness of the animals"" skin, the tightness of the collar pressing the electrodes against the animals"" skin, and various other conditions that cause or contribute to ineffective electrical contact of the electrodes with the animals"" skin. The only known reliable way of nevertheless ensuring electrical contact of the electrodes to the animals"" skin is to ensure that the open circuit output voltage produced by the secondary winding of the output transformer in the receiver is high enough to arc across any gap or insulative barrier between the electrodes and the animals"" skin.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,482, by Gerald J. Gonda and Gregory J. Farkas, issued Feb. 7, 1989, and incorporated herein by reference, and commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,428, by Gregory J. Farkas, issued Oct. 8, 1991, also incorporated herein by reference, disclose prior remote animal training systems in which intensity of electrical stimulus is remotely controlled by causing the receiver circuits to produce various stimulus waveforms of constant amplitude and selectable duration and/or frequency. The high open circuit stimulus voltage needed is achieved independently of the intensity level selected. The devices disclosed in these patents provide reliable electrical contact of the electrodes to the skin of the animal being trained by providing sufficiently high open circuit voltages to ensure that even low levels of stimulation produced by controlling the output pulse widths and repetition rates are reliably felt by the animal.
Because of the lack of a wide range of nearly immediately selectable stimulus levels in the prior art remote training devices, professional trainers have had to plan particular training sessions so as to include only activities and circumstances likely to cause dog behaviors which would require stimulus levels within the range determined by the pluggable intensity-level-setting resistors and/or the resistive electrodes on the collar mounted receiver unit. Then, if unexpected behavior or unexpected circumstances occurred during the training session, the trainer often was not able to immediately select a high, effective stimulus level. In such a case, an opportunity for effective training was lost, and the training process may have been set back as a result of inconsistent and/or inappropriate stimulus. That problem is solved by the system disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,439, entitled xe2x80x9cREMOTE CONTROLLED ANIMAL TRAINING SYSTEMxe2x80x9d, by Duncan et al., Ser. No. 09/339,491, issued Jan. 9, 2001, incorporated herein by reference. That patent discloses that even though the circuitry disclosed in the foregoing patents is capable of providing the stimulus voltage with a very wide range of selectable pulse widths and pulse frequencies, the physiology of the dogs being trained is such that the effective range of remotely selectable stimulus that can be achieved by adjusting only the pulse widths and repetition rates of the electrode pulses is much less than is desirable for a wide range of training conditions. The foregoing commonly assigned patent discloses a system which provides remotely controlled stimulus levels that can be promptly changed to any desired level within a very broad range so that a trainer can immediately provide stimulus levels appropriate to any dog behavior likely to occur in any environmental circumstance likely to occur during any training session.
One of the assignees prior products, Tritronics model A270, allows a trainer to transmit separate stimulus signal/commands from a single handheld transmitter unit to separate remote collar-mounted receiver units on separate dogs. The transmitter unit includes separate pushbutton switches, which, when depressed, cause the transmitter unit to transmit separate stimulus/commands signals to the separate collar-mounted receiver units, respectively.
Dog trainers frequently have the dog on a leash or check cord, or use a xe2x80x9cheelingxe2x80x9d stick, any of the which requires the use of one hand. However, the trainer often needs to use one hand or even two hands to provide hand signal training of the dog during the training session. During hunting sessions, a dog owner or trainer is likely to carry a gun, two-way radio, binoculars or spotting telescopes and/or the like. It would be very advantageous to a dog trainer and/or a hunter working with a hunting dog to have a remote dog-training transmitter which is easily operable with minimal use of only one hand.
There is an unmet need for a dog training system which reliably solves the above described problems, and nevertheless is much smaller and less costly than the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,439.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved, small, low-cost, low-power transmitter unit which is adaptable to transmit multiple stimulus control signals to a single collar-mounted receiver unit of a single dog, or alternatively, to transmit separate, independent of stimulus control signals to multiple collar-mounted receivers mounted, respectively, on separate dogs.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved, low-power transmitter unit which is adaptable to transmit multiple level stimulus control signals to a single collar-mounted receiver unit of a single dog, or alternatively, to transmit separate, independent continuous stimulus control signals to multiple collar-mounted receivers mounted, respectively, on different dogs, and which is smaller and less costly than the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,439.
It is another object of the invention to provide a small, low-cost, low-power transmitter unit which can be easily deployed to send stimulus control signals to a collar-mounted receiver unit mounted on a dog without the need for the trainer to remove the transmitter from its holster or to remove the holster from a belt clip supporting the holster.
It is another object of the invention to provide a small, low-cost, low-power transmitter unit which can be easily deployed by a dog trainer to send stimulus control signals to a collar-mounted receiver unit on a dog, with minimal need for the trainer to use either hand to operate the transmitter unit to transmit a stimulus control signals to the collar-mounted receiver unit.
Briefly described, and in accordance with one embodiment thereof, the invention provides a portable dog-training transmitter unit (1) for transmitting stimulus control signals to a remote collar-mounted receiver/stimulus unit (10) on a dog. The transmitter unit a rectangular housing (2) having opposed the front and rear surfaces, opposed right side and left side surfaces, and opposed top and bottom surfaces and an antenna (3) extending upward from the top surface. A control panel area (2A) is provided on the upper right portion of the front surface, and first (4), second (5), and third (6) pushbutton switches are disposed in the control panel area (2A) to control first, second, and third functions, respectively, represented by stimulus control signals transmitted by the transmitter unit (1). A multiple-position thumbwheel detent switch (7) is disposed in an upper right corner portion of the control panel area (2A) for setting the amplitudes of stimulus signals produced by the collar-mounted receiver/stimulus unit. The first (4), second (5), and third (6) pushbutton switches and the thumbwheel detent switch (7) have surfaces which are approximately flush with the surface of the control panel area (2A). The thumbwheel detent switch (7) is disposed in a recess (7A) in an upper right portion of the control panel area (2D). Transmitter circuitry in the housing includes a controller (15) having a plurality of inputs coupled to the first (4), second (5), and third (6) pushbutton switches and the thumbwheel detent switch (7) the controller including a first output (16) conducting digital data representative of the states of the first, second, and third pushbutton switches in the thumbwheel detent switch. A buffer circuit (17) Includes an input coupled to the first output (16) of the controller for shaping pulses constituting the digital data. In FM modulator (19) Has an input coupled to an output (18) of the buffer, for performing the function of modulating the 27.045 MHZ carrier with the desired digital data. An FM preamplifier (22) has an input coupled to an output (20) of the FM modulator, for performing the function of buffering the oscillator and amplifying the signal for use in the output stage. A matching network (24) has an input coupled to an output (23) of the FM preamplifier. A power amplifier (26) has an input coupled to an output (25) of the matching network. A single pi matching network (28) has been an input coupled to an output (27) of the power amplifier and an output (63) coupled to the antenna (3). The controller (15) includes a switch polling program, and executes the switch polling program in response to depressing of any pushbutton switch for setting of a thumbwheel switch to determine the states of the first, second, and third pushbutton switches and the thumbwheel detent switch. The controller (15) can be configured to cause the first (4) and second (5) pushbutton switches, when depressed, to produce different corresponding stimulus intensity levels to be produced by the collar-mounted receiver stimulus unit (10), wherein the first pushbutton switch (4), when depressed, causes a continuous a stimulus intensity level of amplitude determined by the setting of the thumbwheel detent switch (7) to be produced by the collar-mounted receiver/stimulus unit (10) for as long as the first pushbutton switch (4) remains depressed, up to a predetermined maximum duration, and the second pushbutton switch (4), when depressed, causes a predetermined stimulus intensity level of a predetermined duration to be produced by the collar-mounted receiver/stimulus unit (10). Alternatively, the controller (15) can be configured to cause the transmitter unit (1) to transmit different first, second, and third address codes recognizable by first, second, and third remote collar-mounted receiver/stimulus units, respectively, in response to depressing of the first (4), second (5), and third (6) pushbutton switches, respectively. In one embodiment, the housing (2) is removably supported, a pivot pin (67) rigidly attached to a rear surface of the holster, and a belt clip 68 in which the pivot pin (67) is pivotally retained.